You guys, it's the farewell season of The Good Place and I'm crying already. Now, I'm not sure if I'm crying from laughter or because I'm sad yet, but only time will tell. Just like how only time will tell whether or not our favorite dead humans and former-demon are going to be successful in their mission to turn four "random" (i.e., not random at all) strangers into good people like they did for themselves. Eeek! I'm just so excited, I can hardly stand it.

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED SEASON FOUR, EPISODE ONE "A GIRL FROM ARIZONA: PART 1" YET, STOP READING THIS BRILLIANT ARTICLE. I REPEAT, STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED, OR YOU'RE GOING TO GET MADE AT ME FOR SPOILING YOU! HOW DARE YOU!

Last season's finale was an emotional rollercoaster, as we watched the most precious chili baby Chidi (William Jackson Harper) make the selfless decision to have his memory erased so that he wouldn't hijack the experiment given to Team Cockroach to reform "bad" humans picked by The Bad Place. One of those humans happened to be Chidi's Austrialian ex, Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). Chidi felt he had no choice other than to start from scratch, erasing all of his knowledge of everything that has happened over the last three seasons, and most importantly, his love story with margarita mix lover Eleanor (Kristen Bell).

Eleanor has taken over for Michael (Ted Danson) as the neighborhood's architect and has been forced to put her own feelings aside in order to save the rest of her friends and give them a chance of proving that the system for determining which humans go to the Good and Bad places is faulty (nobody has actually entered The Good Place in years! What a sham!) In the last episode of the third season, Eleanor welcomes a gossip columnist named John to "The Good Place", who appears to have been selected by Shawn (Marc Evan Jackson) to annoy Tahani (Jameela Jamil). Simone was sent to cause complications with Chidi, and Eleanor and Jason (Manny Jacinto) await to find out who will be driving them equally insane.

It would seem that an elderly woman named Linda is sent to cause disruption among Jason's peace. She is boring and has no reaction to anything, even being in literal Heaven. Eleanor tries desperately to get her to utilize Janet's (D'Arcy Carden) resources, but all she wants is a goddang peppermint. Eleanor's "rival" lies in Brent, a misogynistic ashhole who acts as if Janet is his secretary. While trying to divuldge a plan to get to know their subjects better, Eleanor very quickly realizes she is in over her head when Simone, who was supposed to be the easiest human to deal with having had known her on Earth, goes off the rails and is convinced that she is in a coma and that none of what she is experiencing is real. Yaaaaaay, thanks Simone.

Jason's advice is to send in Chidi, everyone's favorite philosophy professor (sorry @ my own philosophy professor) to help prove to her that everything happening is very real, and to teach Simone all about ethics and shirt. Eleanor is immediately opposed to this idea because it would risk reuniting Simone and Chidi romantically and this bench (and literal snack) is very jealous. She wants to do what's best for everyone, but also wants that chili baby to herself, and really, who can blame her?

In The Medium Place, Jason is feuding with Derek (Jason Mantzoukas), Janet's ex-not-boyfriend. He had a hand in creating all the other people in the neighborhood, and is rubbing it in Jason's, Janet's actual boyfriend's, face. Having had enough of Derek's taunting and martini glasses filled to the brim with random finger foods, Mindy St. Claire (Maribeth Monroe) takes Jason to the reset button to murder Derek. He does so and Derek announced to the world that he has been Dereked. Jason isolates himself from the rest of the group and Janet, who is frustrated by Eleanor and Michael's constant favors and Brent's orders.

Eleanor caves and decides that maybe it is a good idea to reunite her soulmate with his ex for the sake of moral philosophy and giving the middle finger to Shawn and his demons, so she introduces Chidi and Simone. Simone seems to be a lost cause, however, as she doesn't believe anything anyone has to say, and continues to make reckless decisions and wave her foam fingers in people's faces. 

While trying to give Linda flying lessons, Eleanor and Michael are shocked when her boring persona turns into a full on ninja as she proceeds to punch and kick them in the face, along with everything around her. It's with this act of craziness that Eleanor and Michael discover that Linda is not Linda at all, she's actually a (RIPPED) demon sent by Shawn to foil Team Cockroach's plans so that they would never win. Judge Gen (Maya Rudolph) rules that Shawn is behaving like a dingus and that the fourth person in the experiment will be Chidi, given that Chidi has no memories of his time spent with the gang. 

Eleanor is clearly uncomfortable with the whole idea, and it seems that maybe Brent (who is in reality pissing off Janet) was a catalyst for who was really sent to fork up the experiment for our fav Arizona dirtbag. Simone and Chidi are the real subjects creeping into Eleanor's mind, just as Derek is the one driving Jason mad. It's these factors that prove to me that maybe Shawn didn't even need four subjects or to cheat his way through the plan, these humans were going to mess it up for themselves.

I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next on this amazing show, but I cannot wait to find out. Will Eleanor and Chidi find their way back to one another (obviously yes they are soulmates and no one can convince me otherwise)? Will Janet and Jason have a second wedding? Will Derek officiate it? And who else will Tahani name drop? 

For now, we'll just have to wait in The Medium Place.

XOXO,
Em

As this blog would suggest, I love a good sad show. A Million Little Things is no exception. The show, which premiered last Fall, has captured my heart and soul. I care so much more about these characters than I probably should, but it doesn't matter, because they are flawed and human and raw and that's my most favorite kind of television.

The show tackles serious issues such as suicide, mental health, relationships, affairs, and humans being humans. So let's recap Season 2 Episode 1, "Coming Home", shall we?

SPOILER ALERT: AS ALWAYS, IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE IN QUESTION YET I WOULD HIGHLY SUGGEST TAKING A BREAK FROM THE INTERNET AND SPENDING 40 MINUTES WATCHING THIS BRILLIANT TELEVISION SHOW. THANK YOU.

We left off with Delilah (Stephanie Szostak) going into labor and Maggie (Allison Miller) and Gary (James Roday) driving home from the doctor's and to their (now shared) apartment to celebrate the news that she is indeed cancer free. Meanwhile, Gina (Christina Moses) and Rome (Romany Malco) are mid-argument due to Rome's sudden urge to have a baby, something they previously agreeing upon not doing. Elsewhere, Eddie (David Giuntoli) is desperately trying to salvage his marriage with Katherine (Grace Park) after the revelation last season that he was having an affair with Delilah. Whoosh. That's a lot of information. 

Oh, did I mention that Delilah's baby is NOT that of her late husband Jon (Ron Livingston), but actually Eddie's? So yeah, Delilah got knocked up by Eddie while being married to Jon, Jon committed suicide, Eddie and Delilah split when he decided to fix things with Katherine, Eddie and Katherine have a young son who is probably so confused by all of this and Delilah's kids don't even know that the affair happened in the first place.

Eddie decides he wants to come home to Katherine and their son Theo (Tristian Byon), but first has to tell her the truth about Delilah's baby. Of course at that exact moment Katherine receives a text from Gina that says Delilah is in labor. Eddie asks Katie what he wants her to do, and Park woefully tells him that it doesn't matter what she wants him to do, he needs to go to the hospital and be there for that baby like he wasn't for Theo. Ouch.

I don't think I can fairly articulate just how magnificent Grace Park is in this episode, but she is. Her breakdown is incredible, as she puts on the front of being totally okay in front of her and Eddie's young son. They bake cookies, he suggests they should take them up to the hospital, she loses it once more. She has Theo call Eddie and ask him to come home and as he rushes back from the hospital, she packs a suitcase and leaves. Am I rooting for Eddie and Katie to work it out? Yes? I think so? Eddie is just so beautiful and also a fuckboy. Katherine is graceful and a wonderful mom. She probably deserves better, but also, it's Eddie.

In Gary and Maggie world, Maggie notices that Gary has unpacked some of her things, and thrown away her cancer medication. She is pissed that he went through her stuff, and our poor Gary boy knows he messed up but doesn't know what to do about since Maggie has clients to see all day. One of those clients is Rome's new bff PJ (Chandler Riggs) who just found out his dad may not actually be his dad! Fun!

PJ also ends up sneaking into Delilah's house (?) and stealing the Harvard sweatshirt that Sophie (Lizzy Greene) and Danny (Chance Hurtsfield) gave Gary in memory of their father. Honestly this entire subplot confuses the heck out of me, but it's fine, it's all fine. PJ is most likely Dave's son, Dave being Jon's best friend who died on the 9/11 flight that Jon should've been on. There's a lot of Jon stuff that still needs to be unpacked on this show.

Anyway, Maggie later reveals to Gary that the reason she was so upset about him throwing out her meds was because last time she did that she found a new lump in the shower the next day. They make up, she goes to take a shower, he joins her. He kisses her bald head, she kisses his chest scar, I cry like a baby. Brandi Carlisle's "The Story" plays in the background. NOTHING IS OKAY BUT LOVE IS REAL.

Back at the hospital, Delilah is getting screamed at by the lactation specialist because she's having a hard time breastfeeding, and listen, I'm not a Delilah fan, in fact, I'm far from it, but seriously lady, SHUT YOUR FACE (Maggie's words, not mine). Regina, Sophie, and Maggie go to take Delilah home from the hospital and Maggie gives the speech that proves once again that she is the best character on the show. She tells the lactation specialist that one day she's going to have kids, and she won't be able to breastfeed them because of her double mastectomy and it won't matter, she will be a great mother anyway, because she has Delilah to look up to. I'd argue she's going to be a great mother because she's a kickass human, but sure, let's give Delilah a compliment she doesn't necessarily deserve.

In a flashback from before Delilah gives birth, we learn that the boys orginally had the great (sarcasm) idea to go pick up the crib from the store as Delilah is in labor. As they head out to the parking garage, Rome shouts that he wants a baby and instead of addressing that bombshell, Gary tells Eddie to get his ass back inside the hospital to be there for the birth of his child. Eddie is all like WHAAAT??? MY CHILD? BUT IT'S JOOOOOONNNNN'S. And Gary is like, "I'm not fucking stupid, Eddie. You might be beautiful, but you're also an idiot. And I drove Jon to get a vasectomy two fucking years ago. Also, we all know you were banging Delilah like nine months ago." (This is exactly how he says it, by the way). 

So Eddie goes back to the delivery room and Gina also realizes that Eddie is the father and lets him comfort D as she gives one final push. Are these friends too forgiving of their other friends being total assholes? Probably, but since Jon died and Maggie's cancer came back and a lot of other traumatic shit happened to them I'm willing to look past it. Eddie and Delilah welcome a beautiful baby girl, and Sophie and Danny still don't know she's only their half-sibling. I'm really waiting for that bomb to drop.

A few days later when the boys finally go get (steal) the crib, Eddie gets a text from Katie's mom telling him that she's staying with her. This whole time he has been lying to Theo and telling him that his mom is working really hard on a court case and needs some time alone. Either Eddie and Katherine are great parents or they are royally fucking up their little boy. Only time will tell. Eddie races over there and says, "Katherine, look at me, I'm so hot, how could you not want to stay married to me?" And she's like, "If I close my eyes I can't see how hot you are, I just hear your sexy voice saying all these douchey things. Then I also remember you cheated on me and had a baby with our best friend so I think I'll stay here." He leaves the house all sad and such. Meanwhile, Gary and Rome talk about how Jon hid so many things from them, and how Rome may not get a baby of his own, but he will have a part in raising this new baby girl.

Speaking of which, Delilah decides to name her Charlotte (nicknamed Charlie) and everyone celebrates back at her house. The kids hang Jon's Bruins jersey above baby Charlie so that her not-Dad is looking over her always. This part would be sweet if it wasn't so awkward. Geez, these kids are going to be SO pissed once they realize that's Eddie's baby.

Rome tells Gina that he still wants a baby, but wants them to be together more, which idk sounds like it's going to prove to be problematic in the future. Everyone is super in love and happy at the end of the episode, except Eddie, who hears a knock at the door thinking it's his estranged wife. But it's not! It's just a gift for the baby that Theo ordered (free same day shipping!) earlier in the day. They both return inside the house sad, and somehow I'm still hoping Katie decides to come home.

What did you think of the season premiere of A Million Little Things? How much did you cry? How much do you hate Delilah? Tell me in the comments!

XOXO,

Em

Let's be real for a moment, NBC's critically acclaimed drama This is Us can be pretty hit or miss. Yes, Dan Fogelman and co. have the ability to make you cry like a baby, but they also have recently (cough season three, cough) showed their ability to bore viewers to tears. There's only so many times we can watch Kevin (Justin Hartley) struggle with his acting career and alcoholism, have absolutely nothing go Kate's (Chrissy Metz) way, or watch Randall (Sterling K. Brown) seemingly fall from grace only to be lifted back up onto his perfect pedestal. Even the story of Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) gets tiring at times, especially once viewers saw Jack's fate play out in front of us. 

I went into Season Four with low expectations. I love the show and care about the characters, but I wasn't expecting anything Season One-era groundbreaking. I also hate when things are overhyped, so I steered clear of the tweets about how much it made viewers (and the actors on the show) cry and didn't read any articles (like this one, ha) about the episode until I was finished watching. Turns out, that was the way to go.

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED SEASON FOUR, EPISODE ONE "Strangers" DO NOT KEEP READING. UNLESS YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO WATCH THE SHOW OR JUST WANT TO KEEP READING MY WRITING, SERIOUSLY STOP, GO WATCH IT, AND THEN COME BACK TO THIS PAGE. THANK YOU.

New characters are all the rage in Season Four, and we're introduced to them literally minutes in. Of course we start our journey with Jack and Rebecca, returning from their cross-country road trip and falling for each other instantly. They're so smitten, it's adorable. Jack gives a Jack-esque speech and all of a sudden a bunch of randoms grace our television screens! A man, he's blind and has a really cute dog! A woman, she's in the military and looks like she's battling some internal demons! A young boy, he's cute and young and full of life! Who are these people?

I applaud for This is Us's never-ending ability to make me care about people I know nothing about and have never met. From the second the tall and handsome (later to be revealed blind) man dropped his plate while feeding his pup bacon I knew I was a goner. I wanted to know more about this guy. I didn't face the same problems that seemed to plague viewers, questions like "How does this have anything to do with the show I know and love?" but instead figured it would all connect in the end, and decided to sit back and enjoy the ride.

The woman in the military gets her own little subplot in which we learn that her name is Cassidy Sharp (played by Jennifer Morrison) and she has a husband a kid at home. She's struggling by not being with them, we as viewers can tell, and when she finally does return home, her demons get the best of her and she succumbs to alcoholism and marriage struggles. She hits her child, and her husband has enough. He orders her out of the house and into AA, where she meets (dramatic music and/or drum roll please) the infamous Nicky Pearson (Griffin Dune). He slams a chair through the window and gets arrested. He calls Kevin to bail him out. Is she about to be Kevin's new lady? Abs-so-freaking-lutely.

The adorable little kid turns out to be a boy named Malik (Asante Blackk) who happens to be a teenage father living with his parents. He works with his father, goes to high school, and is just working his damn hardest to make the world a better place for his daughter! At a barbecue, he locks eyes with Deja (Lyric Ross), Randall and Beth's (Susan Kelechi Watson) adoptive daughter and the rest seems to be history. Randall and Beth 2.0, anyone?

Back in well-known Pearson world, Rebecca and Jack's dinner with her parents goes to hell when they bring up his time in Vietnam, something she specifically asked them not to ask about. Kevin gets the call that Nicky needs to be bailed out of jail and heads to Philly on his 39th birthday, while Kate and Toby (Chris Sullivan) learn that their son Jack will be permanently blind after suffering some health issues following his premature birth before celebrating her birthday with old Rebecca and Miguel (Jon Huertas). 

As for the blind man who broke the plate, that's grown up little Jack (Blake Stadnik). His story is told concurrently throughout the episode as he ventures into a diner, meets a young woman named Lucy (Auden Thornton), falls in love, asks her to marry him, and pursues his dream of creating music (in the footsteps of Kate and Rebecca!) by taking the stage for thousands minutes after learning that he and Lucy are expecting their first child. Can this whole show be about them?

And so just like that, I'm sucked back in. The parallels between young Jack and Rebecca and future Jack and Lucy are breathtaking.  The fact that a Pearson (well, technically Jack is now a Damon) finally achieves a successful music career is heartwarming. But my favorite part of it all is that we know that this baby, Kate and Toby's precious premature baby boy, is going to grow up to live a very happy, beautiful life,. 

I'm so interested to see what happens between Deja and Malik. He seems to have a good heart, but it also willing to stop at nothing to give his daughter the best life possible, which could lead to Deja getting into more than she bargained for. And as for Cass well, I just hope that Kevin finally gets his happy ending.

I love that This is Us is expanding and going forward, backward, and basically anywhere in time. It's truly at its best when it doesn't try to outdo itself and is just honest, raw, and real. Little big Jack and Lucy's love story is so simple and yet is the thing that brought tears to my eyes. As viewers we love to watch love and heartache that feels real unfold in front of us, and that's exactly what "Strangers" did. If I've learned anything these past three years, it's to trust Dan Fogelman and his Fogel-plans (that was the worst pun ever and I'm so sorry).

What did you think of the season premiere of This is Us? Let me know in the comments! 

XOXO,
Em